As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepares to run for president, her
political and family finances have come under scrutiny—especially the
Clinton’s ties to Wall Street. Those connections are complex. They
include not just her political fundraising and paid public speaking
appearances, but also the Clinton Foundation and her son-in-law’s hedge
fund.
Political Donations
Workers in the finance, insurance and real estate industries donated
$21 million
to Hillary’s 2008 presidential campaign, according to the Center for
Responsive Politics. Securities and investment workers were her
third largest source of campaign donations behind lawyers and retirees.
Citigroup Inc. (
C) employees donated
$765,192, more than employees of any other company.
Goldman Sachs (
GS) employees were next, with donations of
$682,990. DLA Piper was in fourth place,
Morgan Stanley (
MS) was
fifth and
JPMorgan Chase & Co (
JPM) was
sixth. However, a review of
filings
from Ready for Hillary, a political action committee, shows few banker
or investor supporters. Clinton associate Tom Nides, a Morgan Stanley
executive, has begun lining up support and donations for Hillary on Wall
Street, according to a
November report in
Politico.
Speeches Prove Boon for Family Finances
Wall Street has also played a role in helping the Clintons rebuild
their personal finances. Hillary Clinton has said that by the time
President Bill Clinton’s presidency ended in January 2001, the family
was “
dead broke.” Between 2000 and 2008, however, Bill and Hillary had jointly earned
$109 million. Some of that fortune came from the speaker circuit, where Wall Street firms have been eager clients.
In 2011 and 2012, Bill Clinton gave
paid speeches at companies including
American Express (
AXP),
Bank of America Corp. (
BAC),
Deutsche Bank AG (
DB), Goldman Sachs,
HSBC Holdings plc (
HSBC), JPMorgan Chase, Jefferies LLC, the Mortgage Bankers Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pershing LLC,
TD Bank (
TD)., the Vanguard Group, UBS AG and
Wells Fargo & Company (
WFC). His starting fee, per speech, was
$165,000. Mrs. Clinton also became a paid speaker after she left the State Department in
2013. Since then, she’s been paid a reported fee of roughly
$200,000 per speech for clients including
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
Critics say the speeches are a way for special interest groups to buy
access to a presidential candidate. "You and I, most of the people we
know, there's no way in hell we can afford to have Clinton come speak
and spend time with us," Meredith McGehee, policy director at the
Campaign Legal Center, told Mother Jones. "This speaking engagement game is a game that favors the wealthy interests, just like our campaign finance system."
Clients Welcome to Donate to Charities
Bill Clinton started a public health non-profit in 2002 that has
since grown into The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. The
Clinton Global Initiative, which holds forums for international
leaders, was separately incorporated from the foundation in 2010 at the
request of the Obama Administration while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. After she stepped down as secretary of state, the two funds
were reunited.
The Clinton Global Initiative discloses its donors by range, not by
specific amount. Barclays Capital, Citi Foundation and Fidelity
Charitable Gift Fund have all given the Clinton's foundation between
$1 million and $5 million.
Bank of America Foundation, Barclays PLC, Citigroup Inc., McKinsey
& Company and UBS Wealth Management USA have given between
$500,000 and $1 million.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Bank Americas, Goldman Sachs
Philanthropy Fund and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Global Impact Funding
Trust Inc. have all given between
$251,000 and $500,000.
Son in Law’s Hedge Fund
Chelsea Clinton’s husband, Goldman Sachs alum Marc Mezvinsky, is a founding partner in
Eaglevale Partners LP, a
$400 million hedge fund launched in 2011.
A New York Times report
found that “tens of millions of dollars raised by Eaglevale can be
attributed to investors with some relationship or link to the Clintons.”
Among those investors are hedge fund managers
Marc Lasry and James Leitner; an overseas money management firm connected to the
Rothschild family; and Goldman Sachs CEO
Lloyd C. Blankfein.
Rock Creek Group,
a Washington-based investment advisory firm that briefly sublet office
space to Mrs. Clinton after she stepped down as Secretary of State,
placed
$13 million
from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and
another public pension fund with Eaglevale in late 2011 and early 2012,
according to the
Times. The pension funds have subsequently withdrawn their investments; CalPERS left as it moved money away from hedge funds.
The Bottom Line
The Wall Street ties that could be a great source of cash for a 2016
Clinton presidential campaign also leave her open to criticism.
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